We look back on three successful days on learning from and working with experiential knowledge both in social work and nursing education and in practice. A special thanks to our host Windesheim University of Applied Sciences and partnership Experiential Knowledge.

The next events is 9 till 11 October in the Netherlands: Experiential knowledge and learning: a pathway to inclusive education. Registration is open now, register here.

Would you like to receive updates about experiential knowledge? Register here.

Program:
9th October: Seminar – learning event with workshops about how to integrate experiential knowledge in education
10th October: Conference Learning from Experiences
11th October: Pepper Jubilee Conference: Based on the stories of Experts by Experience from the very beginning, how did they fare and what can we learn from them for future challenges?

You can register to the conference here.

Would you like to keep informed about upcoming events and other information around the Experiential Knowledge in Higher education, register here.

Some initial thoughts and ideas:

• The term Experiential Knowledge was not known as such by the students.
• Reciprocity is considered a key element. It is essential to give a space to think, to generate a space where the participants and the facilitators of the activity think and talk.
• Even if you have a script, creativity is important, you have to be guided by the creative spirit according to what the participants say.
• Differences must be cared for, protected and respected.

By Beatriz Rodríguez Martín, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha.

By Sascha van Gijzel, University of applied science Utrecht.

The master Experiential Expertise is meant for professionals who wish to take their experiential expertise a step further. During two years, students can discover how to sustainably implement experiential knowledge within organizations, how to creatively work on practice issues and how to manage a destigmatisation project. Students’ own experiences with disruption and recovery form the basis from which they work. With this master, experiential expertise is exported to other sectors besides care and welfare. The chosen research design is Participative Action Research (PAR), making it possible to learn, research and develop knowledge at the same time. This happens interprofessionally, together with fellow students from different domains. There is plenty of room for critical reflections and philosophical en theoretical questions concerning experiential knowledge.

The master revolves around three core tasks, with an emphasis on the second and third:

1. Supporting individual recovery processes
2. Organizing working processes which support recovery
3. Promoting emancipation, preventing stigma and creating societal opportunities

Students learn how to shape, manage and renew these core tasks in complex circumstances, while weighing practical, theoretical and ethical dilemma’s against each other. Three interlinked parts of the master entail:

• Knowledge and leading concepts: studying literature, watching knowledge clips and following classes
• Personal-professional development: coaching each other – with and without supervision – in small groups in processing new perspectives on experiential expertise
• Participative action research: learning how to work with PAR in one’s own practice

The master is meant for students with a minimal of three years work experience in a person-focused profession (care and welfare, education, management, economics and law, or sports), who have a bachelor’s degree. It is also important that students have experience with disruption and recovery and have a certificate proving their experiential expertise.

By Rosalie Metze, University of applied science Windesheim